ANKARA, Turkey, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- The mastermind of bombings which hit two synagogues and British interests in Istanbul has been found to come from a Kurdish city in southeast Turkey.
Security sources said Thursday that Azad Akinji, who is wanted by the Turkish authorities on terrorist charges, hails from the city of Bengol near the Iranian border and owned an Internet cafe currently operated by his brother.
The Turkish press described him as "Turkey's Bin Laden," comparing the bombings in Istanbul in which more than 50 people were killed, to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.
Turkish police and intelligence are conducting thorough investigations in Bengol and screening computers and documents they confiscated from Akinji's café.
The sources said at least two of the suicide bombers who carried out the Istanbul attacks, including Fridon Ugurlu who attacked the British consulate, also hailed from Bengol.
They were close friends of Akinji, all in their 20's and had visited Afghanistan and Pakistan several times.
